UMRC & Porter Hills will be known henceforth as Brio Living Services, a name that captures “the very aspects of joyful living that we aim to bring to the older adults in our care.”
March 1, 2022 | CHELSEA/GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Nonprofit senior living organization United Methodist Retirement Communities (UMRC) & Porter Hills is pleased to announce a new brand and name for its corporate umbrella: Brio Living Services.
In March 2019, UMRC and Porter Hills affiliated as one organization under shared leadership and governance. During the past three years, the organization has become a united and highly effective provider of exceptional, inclusive, and compassionate care and services for older adults across lower Michigan.
“After working together during the toughest possible circumstances during COVID-19, our organization is ready to begin looking forward again,” said Brio Living Services president and CEO Steve Fetyko. “The time is right to unify under one name that truly embodies the important work we do of bringing life, joy, and vigor to older adults and their families.”
Following a 10-month process during which strategic leaders gathered insights from residents and families, team members, and communities, the organization settled on a new brand that reflected its mission, “welcoming all, partnering together, enriching lives” and vision of “a world in which all are empowered to age well.”
Finding the right name to represent the organization’s intentional growth was integral in the process, board chair Mary Wagner said.
“The word ‘brio’ means vivacity, verve, enthusiastic vigor – the very aspects of joyful living that we aim to bring to the older adults in our care,” said Wagner.
The names of the 24 current locations and service lines that are a part of the Brio Living Services family will remain the same. Brio is the second-largest nonprofit senior living organization in Michigan, its affiliates serving more than 8,000 older adults each year across 22 counties in Michigan’s lower peninsula.
“While our name has changed, our commitment to providing the very best care and services to older adults remains steadfast,” said Wagner. “Whether through our market-rate and affordable residential locations, or the home- and community-based services we provide, such as Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and Home Health, it is our utmost goal – always – to ensure the highest level of independence and vibrancy for those we serve so they can live their best lives. We believe the name ‘Brio Living Services’ captures that.”
Brio Living Services builds on a foundation of over 165 years of combined service of UMCR & Porter Hills. This video shares some of that heritage.
The importance of faith-based roots as a mission-driven nonprofit will remain at the heart of Brio Living Services. Pastors and laypeople of both the Methodist and Presbyterian churches were vital to the vision and success of United Methodist Retirement Communities and Porter Hills. Brio leadership states, “We honor our Christian heritage through our mission and vision statements and our guiding beliefs. We believe this faith-based, nonprofit difference is reflected in all that we do at Brio Living Services to provide the utmost care for the older adults and families we serve, and in our support of our dedicated team members who provide such outstanding service.”
The organization has operated independently from the church for many years, and does not share any financial responsibility or ownership with the church. Brio asserts, “We do, however, embrace our faith-based history and maintain relationships with both the Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids. As Brio Living Services, we will continue those relationships as we have in the past.” Church representatives will still serve on the Board.
Brio will also continue to be part of the United Methodist Association (UMA), a national organization of faith-based child and family and aging services. Brio President Steve Fetyko currently serves as Board Chair of UMA. In 2017, UMRC earned UMA’s EAGLE accreditation. EAGLE, or Educational Assessment Guidelines Leading toward Excellence, is the only faith-based accrediting body in the world and focuses on ministries of older adults and children.
Last Updated on October 31, 2023